Holiday Rental Academy by Brett Carnell

The

Ultimate Guide to your

marketing tips for your holiday rental

HOLIDAY RENTAL A new approach to

Smart ways to manage

cash flow

How does an online learning centre sound

$4.99

Holiday Rental Business

Table of Contents

Our History

Our Services

We have honed our skills in the holiday rental industry, with over 10 years’ experience. By turning problems into opportunities, we charted a course for success. Now, as recognised leaders in the industry, we are happy to pass this learning on to you.

We offer a range of services to current and future holiday rental property owners including workshops, seminars and programs. The Holiday Rental Academy program was established to help holiday rental property owners make the most of their holiday rental property and all of our services work towards the goal of helping you bring in more income, streamline your processes, and to bring you more repeat business. We make easy for you and your renters.

Holiday Rental Academy is the brainchild of Brett Claude Carnell, an ex-pilot who used his knowledge in writing training manuals for pilots for a fast growing airline, to implement some simple processes to make running his holiday rental smoother and more profitable. Proof is in the performance, which is why Brett is so proud that Homeaway recognised his Wanggulay Luxury Retreat as the No. 1 Highest Rated Holiday Rental in Australia. Knowing the devil is in the details, Brett’s program for increasing your profitability is tried and tested and easy to implement.

Our Vision Our vision is to help you, as a holiday rental owner, make the most out of your holiday rental and have it working for you, rather than you working for it. Fewer problems, more profit.

Our Philosophy We believe that there are many ways to grow the income from your business and gain repeat customers. But there is only one way to make your business work for you – using simple systems that are easy to understand and easy to adapt to different situations. We deliver on our promise that you will improve your bottom line.

Mission Our mission is to help you profit from our experience, through easy to understand and easy to implement systems for your holiday rental property. Clear, concise and proven protocols will make you better at what you do. Guaranteed.

Our Achievements The processes used by the Holiday Rental Academy have won Wanggulay Luxury Retreat recognition and many awards including:

04 THE STORY BEHIND THE HOLIDAY RENTAL ACADEMY 05 ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE HOLIDAY RENTAL ACADEMY 06 WHY OWN A HOLIDAY RENTAL PROPERTY 10

SMART WAYS TO MANAGE CASHFLOW

11 HOW TO PRICE YOUR HOLIDAY RENTAL PROPERTY 13 WHY SIMPLE SYSTEMS WORK 14 IS YOUR BUSINESS AUTOMATED? 16 HOW YOU CAN OPTIMISE YOUR BUSINESS PROCEDURES 18 USING BUSINESS NETWORKS TO FIND NEW GUESTS 19 social media for targeted marketing 20

why people are choosing HRA

FIVE REASONS WHY HRA IS UNIQUE

24 WHAT DOES HRA MEMBERSHIP GIVE YOU 26 WHERE HAS THE PROGRAM WORKED BEFORE?

No. 1 Highest Rated Holiday Rental in Australia on HomeAway

Rated a Top Vacation Rental on Flipkey

31 WHAT’S INCLUDED IN THE HRA MEMBERSHIP?

Five star ratings on Stayz

Top rated property on Trip Advisor

34 WHAT’S YOUR WEBSITE SAYING ABOUT YOU?

Featured in lifestyle magazines and television shows around Australia

7 MARKETING TIPS FOR YOUR HOLIDAY RENTAL

35 HOW DOES AN ONLINE LEARNING CENTRE SOUND? 36 GETTING STARTED WITH HRA – WHAT’S NEXT

THE STORY BEHIND THE HOLIDAY RENTAL ACADEMY

Brett Carnell on

promises, properties,

process & profits.

s a pilot for Emirates Airlines, the world’s fastest growing airline, I clearly understood the meaning of the word trust. I had responsibility for the safety and wellbeing of countless travelers and families, who had put their trust in me. I paid absolute attention to detail. This clear focus was rewarded with my promotion into the critical role as a Check and Training Captain which meant teaching other pilots how to land at over 100 airports across the world, in different weather situations, and at different times of the day. I promised myself to never fail and was able to keep that promise. My analytical mind was working overtime, because I felt the many pilots I trained needed simpler, more straightforward processes and guidelines that were easy to understand and could be easily referred to when needed. Through diligent and patient work, I developed simple, step-by-step systems, which were adaptable to any flight. And while I retired from flight training a

couple of years ago, my manuals are still being used and trusted today.

The process I developed really works and here’s the proof.

It is that same thinking that I have applied to Holiday Rental Academy.

I now own of one of Australia’s top holiday rental properties, which has won awards and featured in lifestyle programs and news features and added to my rental portfolio. More importantly I am now ready to share my plans and protocols with you.

So what’s the connection between being a jet pilot with a focus on process, to promising you better returns from your holiday rental property? When I purchased my first holiday rental property in Cairns, it was quite an ordeal getting guests booked in, organising maintenance, marketing, collecting feedback and everything else that goes along with owning a holiday rental. But I had a vision to own a well-run, well-maintained and profitable business, so I turned back to my days of flying. I incorporated the same planning and step-by-step process development into my holiday rental business to help it grow from an average yearly income of $25,000 to over $100,000 and to acquire further holiday rental properties. 04

My mission is to help you develop the same earning potential with your holiday rental without the mistakes I made along the way. Let me be your pilot, your trusted advisor, to get you where you want to go with your holiday property with plans and processes that will deliver on the promise of profits, painlessly!”

Brett Carnell

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT

THE HOLIDAY RENTAL ACADEMY

e know running a holiday rental business can be tricky – you need to weigh up your high seasons vs your low seasons, know how to get more guests when its quiet and how to manage all your bookings when it’s busy; you need to work out which style of marketing suits your guests and how to market to new customer bases; you need to know when the best time is for maintenance of certain facilities and when to replace furnishings, and so much more. With more than 10 years’ experience in the holiday rental industry, we know how you feel. While owning a holiday rental is a dream come true for many people, they often don’t realise just how draining and time-consuming it can be to be switched on all the time – not having the time to relax and enjoy your business leads to on-going stress which in turn, can lead to a business not being well run and then failing.

The Holiday Rental Academy can change all of this.

This is where the HRA program leads the way.

The HRA program has been set up in a way that is easy to follow, easy to understand and easy to integrate into your current business practices. It can help you expand your business to grow your income and your customer base, as well as help you have a business running so smoothly, you can start to research other opportunities to grow your holiday property investment portfolio.

The Holiday Rental Academy can help you with so much including: All the resources you need to help build your business from scratch or help rejuvenate your business practices Easy system setup to help put your business up amongst longterm holiday rental owners Provide simplified guidelines on how to manage your holiday rental business Show you how you can work from anywhere at anytime

From the first initial foray into holiday rentals through to the general day to day running of the business, we could all do with some help, especially when it’s your first time in the industry. Despite how much information there is about buying holiday rental properties out there, most people struggle to find good solid material on what to do when something goes wrong.

We’re always working on new additions to the HRA program which will help you grow your business in ways you never thought of doing or never thought were possible. Whether you need help specific help with the marketing of your property, or just need generalised overall information, the Holiday Rental Academy program has what you need.

RENTAL PROPERTY

Why own a

holiday rental

property?

f you’re only starting out in the holiday rental industry, you might ask yourself “why would I want to own a holiday rental property”? Or you might ask yourself “isn’t it expensive?”, “how do I expect to manage the property and work at the same time?” or “isn’t the market volatile?”

term stay during non-peak periods, and then taking advantage of the peak periods by letting it return to a holiday property. Holiday rentals can provide a decent income, especially if you do your research and buy in the right location. High tourism areas, or those frequented by business travelers, are best but not the only options.

Our answer to these types of questions is simple… “While almost every business industry can be unpredictable, buying rental property is going to allow me to stop working for someone else down the track”.

We know that many people purchase a holiday rental with the clear idea of using it for themselves when they need a holiday, and renting it out for the rest of the time. But this doesn’t mean you can skip the usual checks and balances, which come with buying any investment property.

That’s really is the great benefit of joining other investors in the holiday property market – the opportunity to create a business for yourself, to stop working for other people, and to enjoy your life to the fullest. Holiday rental properties are also a popular investment option for those looking to complement their own holiday schedule by having somewhere to stay, or by renting it out as a long

A Property in a Prime Location With the current high property pricing in key markets, you may want to look outside the box for your prime location. Top holiday spots are always popular with investment buyers; sure you could buy a property on the Gold Coast, QLD or in Geelong, VIC, but what are you going to get for your

If you’re wondering how to take your business to the next level, or you aren’t sure where to get the answers you need, make sure you have a chat to us – we can help put you in the right direction.

money? Will you see the needed income to offset your expenses and give you real profit?

erate enough income to give you time to take your own “paid” holiday or plan for growth in your portfolio.

Alternatively, you could choose somewhere a little quieter like Ballina or Port Macquarie, both in NSW, where your money will go a little further and you will have a wide range of guests throughout the year, from young families through to retirees.

Catering for a Niche Market

As with any investment you need to make sure the market is there – if the holiday rental market isn’t there, no matter how lovely the property, you won’t make any money off it.

On-Going Income The possibility of an on-going income stream is something that makes many people turn towards owning a holiday rental property, and purchasing more. The goal would be to have a continual stream of income, but this isn’t going

There are so many reasons people purchase a holiday rental property, with increasing numbers making this investment. These properties cater to a growing market that are abandoning the traditional accommodation scene, in favor of short and long-term rentals. Statistics show that customer markets, such as small wedding groups, artist/ writer’s retreats, “green” holidays, environmentally friendly holidays and experience holidays, are growing in popularity. This is a real opportunity for holiday rental owners, since these groups often find it hard to source a property that suits their needs. If you already own a holiday rental property

Owning a holiday rental property can be a sound investment option, but you do need to have the right support behind you to happen without putting in the work. And that work is made easy with our systems. While our systems prove you can get rich off your holiday rentals, this isn’t going to happen in the first year. In fact, it likely isn’t going to happen in the first three years, and it certainly isn’t going to happen if you don’t do what’s required to make your property attractive to paying guests, whether that be via marketing, and advertising or refurbishing the property regularly, to keep it modern and fresh looking. But if you are willing to put in the work, the business will start to gen-

or are looking at purchasing a property that fits the requirements of these types of customers, you may be looking at some great growth opportunities for your business now and in the future. Owning a holiday rental property can be a sound investment option, but you do need to have the right support behind you. The Holiday Rental Academy has been set up to support owners throughout the entire life-cycle of their business, providing industry specific support as well as general business support such as marketing and growth.

Smart ways

to manage

ash flow is a key factor in business survival, especially for new businesses establishing their markets and finding customers. It is well known that many small businesses who fail do so because of poor cash flow management. We’ve put together some great little tips to help you manage your cash flow throughout the life of your business.

Deferring Payments Ah the age old issue – you want to defer payments to your suppliers so you can gain the maximum benefit of the money being in your account, but you want customers to pay you as early as possible to gain the maximum benefit of the money being in your account. This one is really down to your own personal preference. Some businesses pay their expenses as soon as they get them to ensure everything has been paid and nothing sneaks up on them, others will pay at the end of each month which allows them time to work out their monthly cash flow.

Taking Up Installment Offers If you’re in the process of purchasing new furnishings for your property, you may like to take up installment payment offers. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been in business, these types of installment, or monthly payments, allow you to manage your monthly cash flow a little easier.

Charge Deposits on Booking When first starting in the industry, many holiday rental owners don’t understand

cash flow the full benefit of charging deposits on booking, until a guest doesn’t show up. A non-refundable deposit means you aren’t out of pocket too badly if your guest doesn’t show up on the day, and it gives you some revenue to tide you over until the next booking. Taking credit card details isn’t enough – many people only put enough money on their credit cards to cover the booking deposit; once they cancel their booking or don’t show up, you can bet that money is never going to be available

Up-selling & Affiliate Bookings If you’ve teamed up with other local businesses, up-selling bookings to those other businesses can help your cash flow with very little extra effort. All it takes is either booking the guest in yourself or giving them a code to use when booking, and you’ve potentially gained yourself some extra revenue.

Purchase Pre-Loved Items Purchasing pre-loved, good quality furnishings can make a world of difference to your bottom line. You may remember reading that Brett Carnell found his claw footed bathtub for Wanggulay Too online via a second hand website. Yes there is a bit of risk involved in regards to the quality of the item, but if you miss the opportunity you could miss out on the extra revenue that one piece of furniture could bring you. Pre-loved items are also a perfect way to furnish a property in a particular style. It can be really difficult to find good quality items that suit your summer beach 10

house or country styled cottage but a couple of hours searching through second hand stores and websites could net you a unique piece.

Go Commercial We know that retail stores mark up their product prices quite significantly, but buying through commercial suppliers or directly via the manufacturer can save you heaps. Let’s take the example of real estate agents – very rarely will they head off to Harvey Norman or the Good Guys to buy floor stock; often they will have contacts within the commercial departments who can supply them with the same goods without the high retail mark-up. Similarly to purchasing cleaning products or food supplies, you can often buy these in bulk online or through wholesalers online or at their outlets. Some wholesalers provide products such as 1000 boxes of tea bags for under $30, boxes of 200 mini individual butters for under $20 or cases of 240 individual mini milks for under $25. Don’t be afraid to stock up with items when they are on special – as long as the product is of use, it won’t go off and you have somewhere to store it, buying on special can help your bottom line. Coming out at the end of the month having more revenue than expected is a great outcome – but don’t go and spend the extra income when you don’t need to. Having an extra bank account set up for saving your surplus income to use for slow periods, refurbishments and replacing higher cost items will be of great benefit in those tight months.

How to price your

holiday rental property

ne of the hardest parts about owning a holiday rental property is knowing just where to price your property. Put your prices too high and you are likely not to attract anyone but last minute bookings in the high season, put your prices too low and you are likely to attract people looking for budget accommodation who may not care about your property. For some holiday rental owners, they don’t mind putting their prices a little higher or lower – it brings them the guests they want to attract at any given time, but if you are looking to attract guests all year round and have them appreciate the hard work you put into your property, you need to know how to price your property correctly, when to move prices and when to provide discounts.

Check out Your Competition

Determine Your Seasonal Vacancies

It’s unlikely you’ll be the only holiday rental property in your area unless you are offering a niche experience. Putting that option aside, checking out what your competition is charging for the quality of their property will give you a good indication of what people are willing to pay. Prices are fairly fluid and will move with the seasons so keep an eye on prices in your local area regularly.

During the busy periods you will generally be able to charge more due to higher demand on holiday properties. These periods generally include all school holidays as well as some public holidays and long weekends. You may also have major events going on in your area which are popular with visitors.

The things you want to look out for are what the prices are during the high and low seasons, what discounts or addons are being used to attract guests and what facilities your competitors have which let them price their property the way they do. Also have a look at reviews and see if guests appreciate the pricing or find it a little high for the quality of the property.

On the Gold Coast for example, you can bet that many holiday rental owners will put up prices for school holidays, the GC 600, Schoolies and summer long weekends. You can also guarantee that prices will rise dramatically during big events such as Commonwealth Games and Olympics when accommodation is in high demand. During your quiet periods, you may need to charge less or offer added

value, such as included breakfasts or discounts to local attractions to retain guest bookings. If however your market is relatively standard all year around (for example, your location is popular no matter what time of year), you can charge just the one or two different rates.

Thinking Globally As holiday rental owners, you need to start thinking about your property on a global scale – international markets are often a big opportunity to fill your property on dates that traditionally aren’t local holidays. With holiday dates and seasons often different, making sure you have an international guests marketing plan in place is important –

If you get consistent reviews saying that the property was overpriced or that the property was well worth money spent, you’ll have a good idea which way your prices should head. Many properties will charge a different rate for week nights and weekends, and will often charge a different rate for one night stays compared to five night stays; this brings us to our next point.

Set Your Minimum Stay Period Depending on where you are located, your property might be used by people passing through to other locations. On the other hand, your property could be

gaps by adding a line into your website booking system asking guests to “contact the owner for shorter stays”. This means you aren’t turning away bookings, it gives you the opportunity to fill your property, and guests have the option to stay for just one night.

The Holiday Rental Academy can show you how to benefit from international guests traveling during their holidays to help boost your revenue during typically quite periods locally.

Determine Your Nightly Rate Now you know when your busy and quiet periods are, you can determine your nightly rate. This partly goes back to knowing what your competition are charging and knowing what guests are willing to pay. When you first start out you may consider offering rates consistent with other holiday rental properties in your area. This is a great way of finding out what guests think of your property and whether they are getting value for money.

located in a popular destination where people come to stay for a week. Setting a minimum stay will ensure you don’t miss out on longer stays by booking guests in for two nights compared to a week. However, this also gives you opportunities to provide shorter stays to “fill in the gaps” between your longer stays. During the low season you might change your “5 night minimum stay” to “2 night minimum stay” to attract those just heading away for a weekend. How to market your minimum stay period? Most guests are now aware that properties have a minimum stay period and they will get a better price the longer they stay. But, don’t forget about a short stay fee. Guests are often willing to pay extra to have a comfy bed and a lovely place to wake up to in the middle of their trip, or simply as a quick getaway from work. While minimum stay periods let you gain longer bookings, you also have the opportunity to fill in your empty

simple SYSTEMS

Offering Discounts You’ll often find that property owners offer last minute discounts for bookings made 48 hours or less from arrival time. This gives the owner the opportunity to fill the property and gives those guests seeking last minute bookings a great price. You do however need to be careful in offering discounts during your busy

There are many methods to pricing your property, and you should consider the type of guests you wish to attract as well as how you want to market your property can you market your property as the perfect getaway from the northern hemisphere winter? What about promoting your property as a great way to discover Australia to guests from Asia?

Why

periods, especially if you have guests who will pay full price. You also need to consider that some guests will come to expect a discount – would you prefer an empty property or to give a guest a 50% discount on a one night stay where you won’t even cover your costs? Many owners take the option of an empty property. There are many methods to pricing your property, and you should consider the type of guests you wish to attract as well as how you want to market your property. If you market as luxury holiday accommodation, you will get bookings from guests looking for a private getaway; similarly, if you market as a family friendly budget accommodation, you will get bookings from guests looking for a cheap holiday. It is well worth looking at what other holiday rental properties are charging and spend some time investigating what nightly rate your property is worth before setting your prices in stone.

s a business owner you know how hard it can be to stay on top of everything you need to do in a day or what you have coming up that week. Sure you can use a diary or a planner, but often we forget to look at those and you realise you’ve missed something important the day after it was meant to be done.

work

everything running starts from day one. If you have important tasks that need doing or have reoccurring tasks that happen on a regular basis, having somewhere to keep track of these tasks is essential. It helps you put simple systems into place and helps you maintain these simple systems.

If you are the only one working in your business, you may have ways to keeping track of everything – sticky notes, note pads, diaries etc, but what happens when you suddenly need to hire staff members? You certainly can’t keep writing projects down on sticky notes… well you can, but they won’t be getting done in any timely manner. This is where simple project management systems come into play to help keep your business on track.

The Holiday Rental Academy system follows a project management style of program and can help you run your holiday rental property almost on autopilot

Before we go too far you may be wondering why and how project management skills come into the holiday rental industry. You may already be maintaining your holiday rental property on your own and everything is running smoothly; but what happens if you need to hand the running of your business over to someone else if you got sick or needed to go away. Will be you be able to keep on top of everything when you purchase a second or a third holiday rental property?

The Holiday Rental Academy system follows a project management style of program and can help you run your holiday rental property almost on autopilot. If you ever need to have a break or you start to purchase more properties, the HRA system is so easy to learn that you can simply hand the running over to someone else and know that everything will stay the same and there will be no breakdowns in communication.

The benefit of setting up a project management style system to keep 13

When it comes to running your business you will know that each process you undertake there will be steps that need to come first. For example, in the holiday rental industry if your current overall aim is to gain 20% more business over the next year, there will be steps you need to take to do this including finding out where your current business is coming from, what kind of marketing is suitable, when to undertake this marketing, what part of your property to market as the feature and so on. But when it comes to undertaking a project such as this, many business owners find it confusing and difficult and in the end, most just give up and continue with a lower income. This is the exact time that simple project management systems come into their own – step by step guides on what to do and when to do it; what holiday rental owner couldn’t do with a step by step guide on everything to do with their property? It would certainly make life easier. The whole aim of running a business is for it to be profitable and by using simple systems based on project management, you could be running a more profitable business in a couple of weeks.

Is your

prepare the site for your guests

business

automated? As business owners, we all strive to achieve a profit. If your business income can cover all of your expenses and leave you ahead at the end of the day, you’re on track to having a potentially great business.

ut at what cost? Is it taking up too much of your time? Does it give you stress? Does it demand too much of your energy? What do you think about a business that basically runs itself? Wouldn’t you want a business where you can go away on holiday, knowing that any issue that arises can be dealt with over the phone or by email, or that your staff can fix it without you? The ultimate goal for many holiday rental property owners is to offer a property where procedures and systems are so airtight and adhered to, that issues can be dealt with in minutes. We know, from experience, that it is possible for your business to literally run itself. A well-run business, with great management systems, gives you the time to explore new business opportunities, plan the long term strategies, or just afford the time to spend with your family and friends and enhance your quality of life. So what does it mean to have your business running itself?

Let’s take the example of a dishwasher that breaks halfway through your guest’s stay. Generally, your guest would ring you to say the dishwasher isn’t working, that it stopped all of a sudden. What would you do? Of course you tell them that you will get it fixed or replaced straight away. Now what? Do you ring around 10 different repairers trying to find one available today or do you have a regular repairer’s details on speed dial knowing they will come out in the next two hours? What if they tell you it can’t be fixed? Do you ring around five different retailers trying to find a dishwasher to fit in your budget, or do you just ring the one commercial kitchen supplier where you know that you can pick a dishwasher up today at a price that is easily affordable? But what if you’re away, perhaps in an important meeting or out of reach and can’t be contacted by phone or email? Do your staff members or the person you’ve asked to look after the property, know what to do should a problem arise?

This is the difference between having a business that runs itself and one that runs you. Knowing who to call and when to call, having the right suppliers and repairers available to you and knowing where to get replacement products should be part of running your business efficiently. Unfortunately, not every holiday rental owner considers the endless possibilities and has no guidelines to follow. They spend too much time on the mundane tasks rather than they do on growing their business. Our systems give you back time, which translates to money in your pocket. So how can you integrate simple systems into your business procedures and have your business running smoothly, without your consistent involvement? This is the ultimate aim of the Holiday Rental Academy - showing you how to run your business from anywhere in the world! The simple, proprietary “process flow charts” we developed covers almost every eventuality. At first glance they may seem like a lot of hard work, but we’ve taken the hard work out of it. There is no need for you to spend countless hours and sleepless nights creating procedure

manuals. You can simply download one of our pre-populated flow charts and follow the steps to get to the overall goal. It’s that simple. But running your business on automation doesn’t just include the steps to take when things breakdown. Having programs and procedures to help

cut down time on things like accounting, marketing, payroll and guests booking, can all free up time for you to grow your business. There are many accounting and guest booking systems out there. We’ve refined the search and have recommendations for you that are proven successful.

But please don’t get the wrong impression that we are promising to take you out of the complete running of the business. Unless you have a fantastic manager in place, who is on-call 24/7, you will still need to have interaction with the running of the business. That means you are always in the know and have the time to grow additional opportunities.

How you can

optimise your

business procedures

o you ever wonder why you spend so much time in the office? Do you find it a challenge to break away and spend time interacting with your guests as required? This happens to all of us unless we rigorously challenge it. There are often two things that stand in our way.

We have a natural tendency to fill our available time: The less we have to do, the more we clutter it with unnecessary things.

Everybody resists change. Change can be a painful process because it means we have to leave our comfort zones behind.

Old habits die hard: Continuing to follow them provides an assurance that we are in control and everything is according to plan.

Here is a simple procedure to follow. If you persist, you may be surprised how much time you save. The challenge then becomes what to do with the bonus hours.

The Holiday Rental Academy processes can help you optimise the time spent on your business so you can still get out an enjoy life.

steps towards

Optimising Business Procedures

Let’s use the example of checking for email / sms messages. While we may not be part of the 11% who do so every few minutes according a Gallup Poll - or the 41% who do so several times per hour - when we do check them, we disrupt a conversation or an activity. New messages can distract us as we explore interesting ideas. After we return to our original task, we take several more minutes to remember where what we doing previously, and pick up again.

Identify the activity and define the process. In this case,

2.3.

Reason for activity. In the case of email / sms messages, the answer is obvious (although this is not always the case). Checking for messages is an essential part of remaining connected to society.

Frequency of activity – Only you know this. Are you part of the 20% who check once an hour, or the 24% who check a few times a day? Frequency hints at potential time savings.

Is the procedure necessary? Without a shadow of a doubt, if we stopped checking for email / sms messages we would lose contact with the outside world, and we would soon go out of business. But is it really necessary to check multiple times an hour?

it could be ‘pause current activity, check email / sms messages, (may) become distracted, return to previous activity.’

We exist to help you run your holiday rental business efficiently, effectively and profitably. Spend the time you save on things you really want to do, like hobbies and amusement. Look on this as a bonus for managing things, not doing things.

Are we doing it the right way? In the Gallup Poll 41% of people checked their email / sms messages ‘a few times an hour,’ or ‘about once an hour’ (20%). Speaking non-statistically, twice an hour on average makes sense.

The bigger picture – Most procedures follow on from something and lead to something else. Checking for messages merely interrupts what we are doing. Changing frequency does not have a boomerang effect.

We chose checking email / sms messages for this study because it applies to every holiday rental business (even though the outcome was obvious from the beginning). Keep a log of how you spend your time, and apply the Six Steps to the three most time-consuming procedures.

Social Media for Targeted Marketing

Social media – it seems like someone is using it every time you turn around. You probably use it yourself to keep in touch with family and friends, but have you ever thought about targeting particular groups of potential guests using social media?

USING BUSINESS NETWORKS

to find new GUESTS

inding customers can appear straightforward from a customer perspective. When Woolworths, Westfield, and Coles open their doors in the morning, consumers stream in as if by magic. It is not magic though. They market themselves continuously. So where should you start marketing your holiday rental?

Step 1: Announce Yourself The first step is to build a WordPress website and place advertisements out there that your target audience is likely to be reading, whether this be traditional media or social media. The website will be the reference point your leads visit. You must find ways to stand out from the competition. In today’s technological age it is suffice to say that if you do not have an Internet presence, you are ‘off the radar’.

Step 2: Use Your Networks Tell your friends about your holiday rental, and although you cannot count

on much business coming directly from them, the networks to use are social media, especially Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. You don’t need to focus on just marketing your property directly; focus on sharing industry news and useful information. The marketing stuff belongs in your social media portfolios. If you are useful, holidaymakers will seek you out and that is when you begin to sell.

Step 3: listing sites If people do not know that you exist, they are unlikely to find you! Collaborate with people already advertising on the internet with a large following: 90% of your rate (after 10% commission) is an improvement on earning nothing. Googling “Australian holiday accommodation” will find most of them. Sit down and talk to organisations like Stayz first. They are by far the largest, with 40,000 holiday rentals listed, you cannot afford to miss this opportunity.

Step 4: Create Strategic Alliances Your guests shop in local stores and dine in local restaurants. Similarly, their customers need somewhere to stay. Strike a deal with them to recommend each other when the opportunity arises. To make sure you get commission, offer to introduce your guests to ‘show them the ropes’. You will be amazed how income from this tip stacks up!

The Only Way to Run a Successful Business The Holiday Rental Academy really is the answer, when you are starting out and are unsure where to begin. Our team is brimming over with solid, proven methods that could get you into positive cash flow sooner than you think. Holiday Rental Academy` systems work and you should try them.

et’s get started with an example – when looking at options for marketing Wanggulay Bali and Wanggulay Too, Brett Carnell started with the general options – websites and online travel agencies/booking agencies. He then decided to give social media advertising a go. Taking into account the cost of staying at Wanggulay, Brett and his team of Facebook marketing experts targeted users in North America that earn more than $100,000 per year. Like advertising in the local areas of Cairns, Palm Cove and Port Douglas, this reduced the potential audience from more than 100 million in the North America region down to around 100,000 people. Brett’s team regularly engage with this audience and by using customer relationship management systems (or CRM systems), they now have over 10,000 people on their mailing list. Using targeted advertising is quite simple – you target specific groups of people that are interested in your local region and who can travel from anywhere in the world to visit you. Once you have this audience, you then need to engage with them regularly creating interest and delivering an experience that they can only really get by staying at your property. This interest and opportunity at experiencing something different will encourage guests to make a booking through systems such as Stayz or Home Away or with you directly.

As a member of the Holiday Rental Academy we have a really special opportunity for you. We know that marketing your property can be difficult enough – finding customers and engaging with them takes time, and it also takes some experience in knowing where to find new customers and how they prefer to hear about you. We’ve included this as part of your membership after the great experience and feedback received for the Wanggulay properties when engaging with guests via social media sources like Facebook. So what is it? It’s two opportunities really. Firstly, we will set up a Facebook page for your holiday rental property and show you how to engage your target market by executing strategic advertising through Facebook. The second opportunity involves the Holiday Rental Academy setting your CRM system up to run proven e-marketing campaigns linked to your Facebook page and website for the duration of the program. We can’t tell you how important both targeted marketing through social media and a CRM system are to your business, but from the outcomes the Wanggulay properties are receiving every day from this type of marketing, we know it works.

QUICK TIPS Use Templates Using templates can save you a lot of time when you are responding to guest enquiries. Spend 30 minutes putting together a booking confirmation template and for future bookings, you simply need to add the template to your email and fill in the relevant details. Your emails look professional, everyone gets the same information and you don’t need to worry that you’ve missed passing something on.

Email Shortcuts Do you use Outlook to keep all your emails together in one handy spot? Well there’s this great function called Quickparts. You can upload all of your generic emails, or even your booking confirmation template, and simply drop into any email – quick, easy, painless!

Make the Most of Your Calendar If you don’t use a booking system, how are you keeping track of all your bookings? Utilise the calendar on your email system as your property calendar. You can then easily keep track of incoming and outgoing guests, cleaning schedules, maintenance schedules, advertising and anything else needed for your property.

FROM OUR EXECUTIVE TEAM

FROM OUR CUSTOMER SERVICE TEAM

why people are choosing the

holiday rental academy

rom the support of an Executive Business Coach through to a holiday industry specialised Executive Secretary, there is so much to be said for having the right business support behind you. Working with so many industry experts on a daily basis really gets ideas flowing in terms of the information and support we can offer to our HRA members. HRA has built a complete support base to give our members somewhere to turn when they need a quick answer to what can often be a complex problem. Like any business owner, we know our HRA members generally have their strong and weak points when it comes to running a business, whether that be marketing and advertising or maintenance and refurbishing. We will give you enough information to help you make the right decisions or to point you in the direction where you can find more information.

Despite our years of experience in holiday rentals, business, marketing, maintenance, customer service, we still turn to other experts to learn new skills. Learning and improving your own skills and as part of owning a business means you save time and money. No need to incur additional expenses from hiring outside expertise. We give you that expertise! As a holiday rental property owner, we recommend ongoing skills improvement as a regular on-going process, especially in an industry that changes quickly, and where trends come and go quicker than any other industry out there. We’d love you to come on this journey of discovery with us. We’ll help you build your business to a point where you can operate stress free, knowing that no matter what happens, you have the knowledge to handled any situation.

WHAT OUR MEMBERS LOVE ABOUT THE HOLIDAY RENTAL ACADEMY Even better, is that what they can’t find or understand, they know that we’re right here to help them

Working in customer service for the Holiday Rental Academy we get to speak to our members right from the beginning of their time with us. All of them are looking forward to learning how to maximise their business, but it’s the feedback we get back from them, when they have started with the program, that lets us know what we are providing really works. The Holiday Rental Academy is new for many of our members so they weren’t always sure about their expectations. What we do know from

their feedback is we always meet and more often than not, exceed their expectations.

out more about what other holiday rental owners are doing and what is working.

Based on the feedback from graduates of the program, we know different people have different opinions about what they love about HRA and that information varies, depending on what they are looking to get out of it. Some members really appreciate the one-on-one consultations and business support they receive, while others rave about the networking opportunities where they can find

The one constant is that all of our member’s acknowledge how easy it is to learn new skills and apply them in the real world. They like the fact that everything is so easy to find and so easy to understand. Even better is knowing that what they can’t immediately find or understand, they know that we’re right here to help them, no matter the simplicity or complexity of the question.

If you spend your nights awake wondering when your holiday rental is going to receive it’s next booking, the Holiday Rental Academy is for you.

why we’re unique

So exactly why is the HRA unique when it comes to the holiday rental market? In many industries there is always somewhere you can turn to find out more information, whether that be your industry body or industry associations. However, when it comes to holiday rentals, finding comprehensive information on how you should manage or grow your business can be hard to find.

One of a kind

One of the main reasons HRA was created was to fill a gap in the market. Unlike other industries, much of the information available for holiday rental owners focuses either on motels and hotels or permanent rentals – it’s quite hard for a holiday rental property owner to find succinct, comprehensive information about holiday rentals that explains step by step the daily processes.

Comprehensive information that is easily accessible

If you’ve ever been part of an industry where you need to go searching for information you’ll know that the easier the information is to find, and the

more comprehensive it is, the more you will get out of it. Over the years what we’ve found is that the harder information is to find, and the harder it is to understand, the more people will just bypass it and continue doing what they were always doing. By having information at your fingertips that is easy to read, easy to understand and easy to access, you’ll be able to implement it into your business much faster.

Hands-on assistance

Have you ever undertaken training where you never received any

assistance either face to face or via the phone or internet? It’s hard right? That’s why HRA have implemented so many ways for you to be able to access assistance for your business that you can choose a method for you. As part of our packages there are conferences, webinars and networking meetings to attend, as well as personal consults and business experts to meet. With access to a huge range of simple procedures and self-learning opportunities, we’ll have you up and running, gaining new business and learning new procedures in a way that suits you best.

Simple to follow guidelines

At some time, all of us have walked into a job and one of two things generally happen. The first is that the procedures and “how-to” is so over the top that it is just confusing and would take you a month to work out really simple procedures; the second is that these guidelines just don’t exist at all, and it would still take you a month to work out what are really, pretty simple procedures. At HRA we have developed really simple to follow guidelines in the format of flowcharts – if one step happens you move onto the next step; if that first step doesn’t happen you go back a step to make it happen. We’ve all seen how simple to read and follow flow charts are, and that is the basis of getting you more business – simple, easy procedures to make running your business easier.

Experienced staff who know the industry

There is nothing more beneficial than working with people who know the holiday rental industry. Sure, any old marketing expert could come in and show you how to market your business, but can they show you years of experience in marketing to holiday makers? Does your web designer understand exactly what holiday makers are looking for when they are choosing a property? The answer is, probably not. With over 10 years’ experience in the holiday rental, and staff with experience in web design, marketing, management, content, photography, business and more, there’s a reason why holiday rental property owners are turning to the Holiday Rental Academy to help streamline their businesses. 23

If there was just one thing that you could do to your holiday rental property that could bring in extra income, would you do it? The Holiday Rental Academy can show ways to make your property, marketing and customer service more attractive to holiday makers as well as showing you ways to raise your business income in a simple, easy to understand and accessible format. Our aim is to show you how to have your business running on automation, while you enjoy the life that owning a holiday rental can bring.

Access to professionals including photography experts, executive business coaches, executive secretaries

WHAT DOES THE HOLIDAY RENTAL ACADEMY MEMBERSHIP

give YOU?

omething we’re asked all the time is “what am I going to get in my membership to the Holiday Rental Academy?” Our answer is simple – heaps! From opportunities to network with other holiday rental owners through to consultations with industry experts, there is so much information and so many experiences provided with a Holiday Rental Academy membership. We’ve outlined some of the things you’ll receive as part of Holiday Rental Academy membership options. There are two membership options to choose from, so you get the option of deciding what is best for you and your business. Of course, there is so much more available to our members than what we’ve outlined below and we’re always working on some exciting initiatives and resources to bring you the most up to date information to help your business grow.

Access to four live conferences throughout the year where you can learn new information about how to run your holiday rental business efficiently and make a profit.

Webinars where you can log in at a time and place suitable to you, ask questions and get feedback

Flow charts for hundreds of business and holiday rental situations to help you get through the tough times

Access to a library of self-paced tutorials and courses across the entire business realm, giving you more information in a nutshell than what you would find elsewhere

Ongoing events such as Mastermind Day’s, Round Table events, networking events, dinners and more.

Networking events so you can meet other holiday rental owners in a social setting and learn from what they are doing in their businesses

Where has

the program worked before?

Wanggulay Too allowed Brett to hone in on the procedures he used for Wanggulay Bali and we can happily say both properties are now seen as a luxury holiday option for everyone from couples through to large family groups.

s humans and business owners, we always want to know the why, the where or the how behind things before we step into them – Why does this work? How does it work? Where has it worked? These are all questions we hear at the Holiday Rental Academy events, so we thought that this would be a great opportunity to show you exactly where HRA started and how it has evolved into what it is today.

Wanggulay Bali & Wanggulay Too - Cairns It’s likely you’ve either heard or read about the Wanggulay properties Brett Carnell’s private holiday rentals in Cairns, Far North Queensland. The first Wanggulay property, Wanggulay Bali, was originally a permanent rent-

al property being looked after by local real estate agents. While there technically wasn’t anything wrong with this, Brett had dreams of turning Wanggulay Bali into the ultimate luxury holiday destination, and he wasn’t going to get there with a property that was being used as a permanent rental.

Like anyone with experience in the training field, Brett turned to his prior knowledge of training airline pilots to put in place some procedures and steps to ensure he got Wanggulay Bali to where he wanted it. A lot of hard work ensued, but he got there in the end; this was of course, the birth of the basis behind the Holiday Rental Academy.

The problem was, like most people who go into holiday rentals for the first time, Brett had absolutely no idea where to start – taking the management of the property off experienced real estate agents meant that he now needed to learn how to do everything himself, from the management of the property through to the ongoing maintenance.

Once Wanggulay Bali was up and running successfully Brett created Wanggulay Too, another luxury holiday property in the rain forest in Cairns. With this property Brett went a little further in the furnishings finding oneof-a-kind or unusual furnishings to make the property just that little more luxurious (take a look at Wanggulay Too’s claw-footed outdoor bath!!).

9 Bayview Street, Runaway Bay – Gold Coast The Gold Coast is a competitive place to own a holiday rental property – there are quite literally thousands upon thousands of holiday rental properties that holiday makers can choose from. This means a holiday property needs to look great and be well run to stand out from the crowd. What the owner of this property found though was to refurbish an entire holiday apartment would cost thousands of dollars, which for many is unaffordable. ABOVE AND RIGHT: Wanggulay Bali BELOW: The view from the balcony at 9 Bayview Street

So how did the Holiday Rental Academy structure help this owner? By searching around and restricting their purchases to commercial retailer and building providers and wholesalers, they were able to fit out an entire apartment for a $200/month payment.

When the fit out was done, the owner asked a local holiday rental real estate agent what they would expect to get for a weekly stay. The agent, who managed over 300 holiday and short term properties, provided them with the likely market rate. The owner has managed to exceed that estimate by 60% and the extra income more than covers the $200/month repayments. Not only did the property owner get a great looking apartment by following the basic structures of the Holiday Rental Academy, they also got great photos, extra income and some fantastic reviews and feedback that they weren’t getting before. These are just three of the properties that have been turned around using the Holiday Rental Academy systems and structure. What would you do with the extra income that the Holiday Rental Academy systems can bring.

Marketing a holiday property can be quite a task working out the best place to market your property and the best way to market it to attract the most amount of potential guests.

A quick example: you could work with the local airport transfer company who will recommend your holiday property on their website, while you recommend them as a preferred airport transport service to your guests.

HOLIDAY RENTAL

In today’s world, a good percentage of people will at least search for properties online and then go on to either book online or book over the phone. Fewer people are using travel agents for domestic travel bookings these days, but they do still have a place in the market. If you can attract a higher number of bookings or lure guests to book directly with you, instead of via a travel agent or an online travel agent that charges exceptionally high commissions, then your marketing campaign is a success.

There are many ways to increase your bookings through marketing, and we’ve outlined some of the more straightforward options to give you a starting point.

Using Blogs to Your Benefit Blogs are a great way to show potential guests that you know the area they are staying in. They allow you to give your guests extra information you wouldn’t normally be able to give them in your standard in-room folders. Blogs allow you to show off your area with photos, links and descriptions of places to see and things to do, getting your guests excited for your stay.

Blogs are also a great way to market your property without being overly pushy – you can outline the styles of accommodation, the different ways your property can be used (weddings, business meetings, romantic getaways etc) and the best time of the year to stay. For example, blogs can outline the best things to do in the low season such as places to visit that are normally packed with tourists or you can give guests ideas on how to avoid the tourist traps in the high season.

Use Local Events & Attractions as a Draw card If your city or town runs major events throughout the year such as mara-

In a previous article we spoke about how network marketing, or using your network of family, friends and business associates, is a great way to find new guests. Another fantastic way of attracting new guests to your property is teaming up with other local businesses to cross-promote the services you offer. Of course, you need to ensure that the companies you are working with are reputable and aren’t going to leave your guests stranded. If you’re only new in the market, local companies may feel uncomfortable recommending you until they get to know you. A great way of letting them get to know you and your property is to hold an “open” with your preferred business affiliates (in different service areas preferably). This way, they get to see your property and get a feel for the type of customers that may like to stay there. Make sure you also visit the corresponding businesses to ensure it is a business you could happily recommend.

7 MARKETING TIPS FOR YOUR

nowing who your potential guests are, how they book holidays and where they go looking for holiday information is one of the most important factors in marketing your property.

The Benefits of Affiliate Marketing

Blogs allow you to show off your area with photos, links and descriptions of places thons, sporting events, festivals or business conventions, you can easily use these as a draw card to gain more guests. Through utilising blogs as spoken about above, you can show potential guests how far away you are from the local attractions or facilities holding events. You can also add information about the events into your enquiry emails when responding to guests. Many local councils and organisations have their plan of events organised by quite early in the year giving you plenty

of time to get the word out there about both your property and the events. This allows you to upload the information on your website for guests to see. Another option is to get in touch with the organisations running events or the attractions themselves and find out if they would add you onto their list of recommended accommodation options. Of course you need to ensure your property is up to scratch and worth staying at, but this can be a great way to gain credibility for your property. 29

There are many affiliate deals that happen in business, and these could include guests getting a certain percentage off at the business, or say 5% of the total spend being passed between businesses (for example, you get 5% of the ticket price for everyone you send or book into your local whale watching tour, while the owners of the whale watching tour might receive a half price night at your accommodation for everyone they send to you).

Utilising Listing Sites It is important to cast your net as wide as possible to attract new guests and this can include using external listing sites or Online Travel Agents (OTA’s). At HRA we embrace major listing sites such as Stayz, Home Away and VRBO simply because they have huge marketing budgets that effectively bring in the majority of our business.

Great photos will always help to improve your listing quality so, if you aren’t great at taking photos, engage a professional photographer

While utilising these sites does require paying commission, the money paid is money well spent. People often advocate not using external listing sites but they are denying themselves access for healthy competition – the result is often the need to discount prices in order to fill the property. The Hilton Hotel Group is a great example – the Hilton Group may have a massive marketing budget, yet in order to remain profitable they use other listing sites to fill their room space; this is a good business strategy and one many holiday rental owners need to adopt.

Improve Your Listing Quality Improving the quality of your accommodation listings, whether via a booking system such as Stayz or on your own website is a great way of attracting guests. It’s best to make sure that all of your stand out features are mentioned (and photos loaded) as well as letting

probably one of the most important things you can do, especially if you use an online booking system. If a guest wants to book at your property, your online calendar shows them the property is available, but then they receive an email saying it isn’t available, you have instantly lost credibility. potential guests see everything included in the property. Guests like to know what type of property they are booking into, whether it be a full service accommodation or self-contained. It is best to get this information out there, otherwise you are opening yourself up for complaints when your guests arrive and realise they don’t get a room service for stays under 7 days, or the property is completely self-contained. Great photos will always help to improve your listing quality so, if you aren’t great at taking photos, engage a professional photographer to capture your property in its best light. As a side note, did you know that as a member of the Holiday Rental Academy you receive 10 photos taken by a professional photographer?

Update Your Website Regularly Updating your website regularly is

You should aim to update photos every 4-6 months to keep your website looking fresh, and if you do update or change any furnishings in the property, upload new photos – your guests want to know what the property will look like when they arrive. The same goes for updating the content on your website – if you’ve just installed a new outdoor shower, tell your guests! Any selling point of your property that you add or update should be shouted from the rooftops.

Gold

Platinum

4 Live Conferences located in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Our live conferences show you how to set up your holiday rental business successfully while networking with other owners and industry experts.

$12,000

YES!

12 Live Webinars conveniently delivered on your computer, tablet or phone are the perfect way to learn the latest tools and tips for becoming a successful holiday rental owner. Each month we bring you an industry or business expert to help solve the greatest problems facing owners today in an interactive environment.

$4,000

✓ YES! ✓

YES! ✓✓

Personal Consultation with our Holiday Rental Expert, Brett Carnell. Maximise the potential return from your rental and plan your strategy. The consultation includes: a virtual review of your rental property, strategy session, full written report with recommendations and a quarterly business progress review.

$3,000

✓ YES! ✓

YES! ✓✓

Australia’s largest library of HRA Master Charts These flow charts provide detailed step by step instructions on how to setup and run a profitable Holiday Rental Business.

$36,000

✓ YES! ✓

YES!

Access to HRA partnered online learning centre and a library of tailored self-paced tutorials and courses across the entire business realm, giving you more information in a nutshell that what you could anywhere else

$1,900

YES! ✓✓

Simple Systems fine-tuned by our experts and setup for your business so that you can run your holiday rental easily and profitably

$3,500

YES!

The Money Shot There is no doubt that the “money shot” is what gets guests through the door. Think about what you would like to see as your first impression of your property – do you want to see the front of the property or would you prefer to see the views? Have a look around at other holiday properties in your area and see what they are using as their “money shot” – could you better it?

Finding your “Money Shot” – what image would you prefer to see first when looking for holiday accommodation?

Value

Value Facebook page and Advertising The Holiday Rental Academy have teamed up with Facebook’s own experts to develop pages, posting and advertising campaigns that deliver new business from key international sources. We will set up and run your holiday rental Facebook and show you how to engage your target market and execute strategic advertising through Facebook. Your personal customer relationship management system All big companies run a CRM System for keeping track of past, existing and possible clients, so they can keep in contact and maximise the opportunity for sales. Holiday Rental Academy will set your business up with the best and run your CRM with proven e-marketing campaigns linked to your Facebook and website for the duration of the program*. *CRM program cost not included

Exclusive access to Holiday Rental Academy database of contacts, ranging from alliances, key commercial suppliers and holiday rental owners.

Networking drinks and evening Join the Holiday Rental Academy Team, industry experts and other holiday rental owners in a casual environment.

$7,500

Gold

YES! ✓✓

Value

Gold

platinum

Platinum Executive coach One on one support from an expert who will review your business, develop an implementation plan for your business, help you set-up tailored simple systems, refer you to the best suppliers and so much more.

$12,000

✓ YES! ✓✓

Platinum Booking support Access to an experienced team who will implement a proven booking system and manage the day-to-day queries and bookings.

$4,800

✓ YES! ✓✓

BONUS OFFER – FREE!✓

platinum

YES! ✓✓

✓ YES! ✓✓ Annual HRA Awards Receive two tickets to the Annual HRA Awards and mix with the top echelon of the holiday rental industry at the Annual Holiday Rental Industry Association Awards

bonus offer – free!✓

$2,000

✓ ✓ YES! ✓✓

As a corporate member you will benefit from all the inclusion of our Gold and Platinum memberships plus strategic advice and tailored solutions for your business category

✓ ✓ YES! ✓✓

YOUR TOTAL VALUE BONUS OFFER – Sign up today and enjoy dinner with Brett Carnell, long term holiday rental property owner and mastermind of HRA. Pick Brett’s brain for strategies and information over dinner.

As a platinum member you will receive access to the Gold Membership program plus so much more:

Single investment and get 2 months free

Or, only 12 easy monthly installments

My Total Saving Platinum Mastermind morning Spend the morning with holiday rental industry experts – be at the forefront of market changes and industry trends

$4,000

✓ ✓ YES! ✓✓ ✓

Platinum dinners Mingle with other platinum members and a fun and relaxing environment – pick up hints and tips from other holiday rental owners

$1,500

✓ ✓ YES! ✓✓ ✓

Platinum Round table Discuss everything you have learnt throughout the live conference. Our experts will support you with how to take this knowledge and develop your own strategies for success

$4,500

✓ ✓ YES! ✓✓ ✓

gold

platinum

$77,400

$104,200

$9,950

$14,950

$995

$1,495

$67,450

$89,250

BONUS OFFER - Sign up today and pay for program upfront and receive a 2 night stay at Wanggulay for free (valued at $2456) Imagine relaxing at a privately owned, award winning holiday rental property? We invite you to enjoy the luxurious surroundings of “Wanggulay”, located in Cairns, QLD. Offer also includes car hire and champagne – experience why Wanggulay is number one.

What’s your

website saying I

about you

n today’s technology fueled world, your website could be the difference between guests booking with you, or booking with your competitor down the road. The first port of call for many people looking to book holiday accommodation is the internet, so your website needs to reflect everything great about your property, as well as providing the information guests need to make their decision on where they are going to stay. So what makes a good website and what simple changes can you make to attract more guests to booking with you?

What services do you offer? Of course, you offer accommodation. But what type? Whether you run a studio apartment or a five bedroom house, your guests are going to want to know exactly what kind of accommodation services you provide. Don’t forget to mention any other services provided such as room servicing, breakfast, massages, tours etc. All of these things will make a difference as to whether a guest books with your or your competition down the road.

Where are you located? The one thing that really bugs a potential guest is not being able to find out where you are. Sure you might state what town or city you’re located in, but what if your guest is trying to find out how close you are to a certain facility or attraction? A simple street address or even a Google Map showing where you

are goes a long way for guests. If your location is difficult to find, why not include some simple directions or let guests know what is around you.

How can I contact you? This is up there with guests knowing where you’re located. If you don’t include a phone number and email address on your website or booking systems, how will potential and booked guests contact you? Many people still like conducting transactions or bookings over the phone, so including your contact details is important. While web contact forms are a great and simple way of guests contacting you, these can fail. Always include three ways guests can contact you – web form, phone number and direct email.

Keep information up to date We’ve said it before, but keeping your information up to date is important. This goes for booking availabilities, photos, features and more. The more up to date information you can provide for your guests, the less complaints you will likely receive. Check your spelling….and your grammar So many people forget to check their website for spelling and grammar issues, and this can turn away a lot of guests. Generally, potential guests will think that if you can’t have someone check something as important your website for spelling or grammar issues, you’ll likely miss something important 34

HOW DOES AN ONLINE LEARNING CENTRE SOUND?

in their booking. Making sure your spelling and grammar is correct shows that you care about your image as a business, and that you are likely going to take more care when it comes to preparing the property for a guests’ arrival.

As a member of the Holiday Rental Academy we’ve been spending time excitedly organising our Online Learning Centre. We know the program is already jam-packed with information to help you get your property running at fullspeed, but we thought we’d also throw in access to hundreds of short courses and videos on a whole range of different subjects to give you even more value. So what’s in this Online Learning Centre?

Accessibility is everything How accessible is your website? Can your potential guests access your information from their phone and tablet or are they restricted to only viewing your website on a computer? Many guests are looking at booking accommodation in their downtime – while they are watching TV at night or perhaps over a few Sunday drinks in the backyard. Accessibility is everything. Something to keep in mind is that your Google rankings may now fall if your website is not mobile friendly, so if you can’t view your website correctly on a mobile, now is the time to change that.

Own your domain As a business you really should own your own domain name. This is a relatively simple and straightforward process that will help your credibility as a business, as well as show professionalism. For a small yearly cost, having your own domain name is well worth the effort. Along with having your own domain, is having your own personalised email address. For some holiday property owners this may not be allowed if your property is located in a strata building, but if you own a holiday home or cot-

You’ll find a library of information on running your business, various software, IT, marketing, photography, video, the web and more. Here’s a (very) quick rundown on the type of information you’ll find:

tage, there is no reason why your email address cannot be “accommodation@ yourpropertyname.com.au

Professional vs Amateur A professional website will win every time and shows your guests that you are serious about the way your holiday rental is perceived. If you were to look at two businesses offering the same services, are you more likely to use the business who has a professional looking website or the business who has a website that looks like it was put together in a night? Your website is important, as it is usually your first chance to impress potential guests. Making sure the right information is displayed in the right places and that guests can find everything they need before booking will make your booking process run a lot smoother. You’ll find a lot more tips like these for your website on our Online Learning Centre.

Business skills Communication Management Social media marketing Email marketing Small business marketing

Online marketing Flickr Instagram Web Design Video Shooting Google Adwords

This library is full of useful information and we’re adding new content to it all the time. If you have staff members working for you, this is an easy way to help them upskill as well as helping them understand how to make the business run better and more efficiently, help keep stress under control and know how to keep everyone happy. What you’ll find in the Online Learning Centre is a wealth of information you won’t find anywhere else. We looked at the way a number of other programs geared towards businesses were put together and not many of them included something as extensive as what we’ve done here. The best thing about the Online Learning Centre is that it is always there – we aren’t giving you a time limit to look at each video and you can come back to them over and over again. This is how confident we are in the Online Learning Centre – the staff here at HRA have been using the information available to undertake their own upskilling, allowing them to help you and your business more efficiently. We’re looking forward to showing you through our Online Learning Centre and giving you as much information as you need to help get your business running profitably.

HOW TO GET STARTED? Get started with Holiday Rental Academy now.

Simply head to holidayrentalacademy.com/Register Or email team@holidayrentalacademy.com Or hand your completed application form to a Holiday Rental crew member

Once youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve signed up, we will book you in for an extensive consultation on how we can help you bring immediate changes to your holiday rental business. We will provide guidance and get you started with our Online Learning Centre. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a lot of valuable information to be gained before you attend your first live conference.

Take the first steps to learning how to run your business on autopilot, reduce costs and improve profit. If you have any questions call us: (02) 8216 0756 Address: Level 34 AMP Tower, 50 Bridge St Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2000 or email us at team@holidayrentalacademy.com